PASADENA, Calif. - NASA’s Perseverance rover, the biggest, most advanced rover to date, is headed toward a landing on Mars Thursday in a mission to search for signs of ancient life on the red planet.
The landing is expected to happen around 3:55 p.m ET. Ground controllers at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, settled in nervously for the rover's descent to the surface of Mars, long a deathtrap for incoming spacecraft.
Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to land safely, the agency says.It also takes a nail-biting 11 1/2 minutes for a signal that would confirm success to reach Earth.NewsNOW from FOX will stream the landing coverage of NASA’s Perseverance rover.